February 4, 2005

Pay Your Respects to the OGs

By | February 4, 2005

Here’s an offer you can’t refuse: Five powerful mobster films coming back from the vault to the big screen at Cornell Cinema. The films are a section of Professor Campbell’s course, “Film & Italian 301: Screening ‘Cosa Nostra.'”

The course itself seeks to unravel the stereotype of the mobster that we have come to know through Hollywood while showing why American culture is obsessed with the Mafioso figures from Scarface to Vito Corleone and up until now, with Tony Soprano.

Mary Fessenden, director of Cornell Cinema, feels that all moviegoers should take advantage of these films being brought to the big screen. She comments, “It is incredibly different to see a film on the big screen. You engage much more with a film when it is projected and there are no distractions.”

The first three films are all American, with both Godfather and Goodfellas head-lining due to their notoriety as the best mobster movies, if not two of the best movies of all time. Fessenden believes “Godfather is a classic of American cinema. It’s a film that has held up over time, with constant interest. The cinematography is perfect — fans should really go out and see it on the big screen.”

Professor Tim Campbell is extremely proud of the fact that he has these five films coming to Cornell Cinema. “These five films mean a lot to me” he says, “especially the Italian films, Johnny Stecchino and Salvatore Giuliano.” While both are subtitled, they bring with them a profound and timeless message of the mafia. Campbell recalls that Salvatore Giuliano is a late classic of Italian neo-realism, coming off as more tonic than the sensationalized depictions of Italians that American audiences are accustomed to seeing. The direction of the movie, he states, “is almost that of a documentary of the social and cultural cases of the mafia. You rarely get that with Italian films.”

Johnny Stecchino, on the other hand, is a “perverse choice because it came out when the Italian state was going after the Cosa Nostra, and setting them on Maxi-trials.” To bring Italian history into context, Campbell points out that two of the magistrates of the trial were killed by the mafiosa themselves. Campbell refers to this event as a “tremendous wound on the Italian psyche.”

Johnny Stecchino, coming out at this time, provided a comical take on the mob and didn’t correspond with what was really happening. The film comes from Life is Beautiful director Roberto Benigni and, at the time of its inception, was the highest-grossing Italian film of all time. Though Italian in its production and language, it interestingly plays on the American stereotypes of the mob.

While Campbell is obviously impressed and enamored with all of these films, the one that he highly recommends to open the eyes of the student public is the least popular of the American films, The Funeral, which stars mob-role veterans Christopher Walken and Chris Penn. What Campbell loves most about the film is that “it demystifies the notion of ‘the family.'” It is a relentless critique on the burden of the sons of the mafia that makes them pay with violence.” Campbell also finds the story to be dramatically straightforward, allowing the viewer to draw radical conclusions about the present-day mafia.

With five films to fit your fancy and two showings of each, all Italians, film fanatics and Italian film fanatics will have the opportunity to skip back generations and see the stories of big and powerful men as big and powerful images on the silver screen. What’s that? You have L-Sats? Prelims are coming up? Hey! Fuggedaboutit!

Related

ByFebruary 7, 2005

While the No. 17 Red (8-4, 3-0 Ivy) had mixed results during the first part of its season, its form recently illustrates that the team is starting to peak. Saturday’s results exemplifies this fact, as Cornell defeated No. 11 Hofstra (9-4, 3-0 CAA), 20-12, at Hempstead, before dusting off Ivy rival Columbia (4-3, 1-2 Ivy), 31-6, later that evening. “This team has really come together and it’s really nice when it happens,” said head coach Rob Koll. “There is not a guy that you can’t count on [for a win]. When you have a team like that, it’s hard to lose.” Coming off a 30-3 thumping of No. 25 Penn a weekend ago, the Red has been solid from top to bottom, and its match against Hofstra displayed this. After No. 12 Jerry Rinaldi (197 pounds) dropped the opening match to Pride No. 2 Chris Skretkowicz, 5-0, the Red proceeded to take the next three matches. Seniors Matt Bogumil (HWT) and Mike Mormile (125) picked up the first two victories before No. 2 Travis Lee earned a major decision with a 18-7 win over No. 20 Charles Griffin. “When Matt and Mike won, we felt really good about getting the win,” Koll said. Koll also said last week that the team’s stars needed to pull through, and its highest ranked performer did just that. After Jordan Leen (141) lost his bout to No. 7 Ricky LaForge, junior No. 1 Dustin Manotti (149) earned a major decision, demolishing No. 9 Jon Masa, 16-3. Manotti, who has been ranked the top wrestler for the past three weeks, is now 30-1 this season. The Red were not out of the woods yet, and after the Pride took the next two weight classes, the 174 pound battle between Red No. 12 Joe Mazzurco and No. 11 Paul Siemon would be crucial. Mazzurco won the match, 5-2, before senior No. 7 Tyler Baier (184) sealed the deal in the final weight division, beating Joe Rovelli, 5-0. Although the Red sustained a few bumps and bruises at Hempstead, the team geared up for its trip to Columbia hoping to further cement its claim for a third consecutive league championship. The Red exploded to a commanding 14-0 lead, led by two major decisions from Lee and Manotti as well as wins by Leen and Mormile. While there was some concern after the Lions took the next two weight divisions, the end result was never in serious doubt. Mazzurco earned a technical fall over Columbia’s Sven Hafemeister, before Baier pinned Justin Barent at 3:46. The Red took the final two weight divisions with wins for Rinaldi and senior Tyler Shovlin (HWT). “We tried to get two matches within a day because you’re trying to simulate the tournament experience,” Koll said. “Fortunately, we didn’t have any letdown what so ever [from last weekend].” With the Red being heavy favorites to take another Ivy title, pending the results of its away matches at Brown and Harvard next weekend, Koll is looking to the season-ending EIWA tournament before heading to Nationals in St. Louis. Even though the team is ranked 17th – a seeding that will likely be improved after its win against Hofstra – Koll believes that his team has a strong chance of sending 10 wrestlers to nationals and ending the year in the top-five. “We just got to stay healthy because the conditioning is there,” Koll said. “I can’t wait to get to St. Louis.” Archived article by Brian TsaoSun Senior Editor

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Prof. Gary Whittaker, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology, and Victor C. Chu grad have discovered a potential vulnerability in the influenza virus. They found a specific receptor that, if targeted, can prevent the virus from infecting new cells, regardless of its strain.